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Wisconsin Fall Sunset November
8th, 2004
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 News on November 15th, 2004
It is
November in Wisconsin and our beautiful green grass and flowers
have died. Soon there will be snow on the ground. The horses
have lost their shiney summer hair coats and are getting ready
for cold weather. It is about time to start the open mares under
lights in preparation for next breeding season. Time certainly
flies as it seemed like yesterday that we were awaiting the new
foals. Now, they are all sold, except Champaign, and it won’t
be long until we price her and move on to the next foaling
season.
Our 2005 foals will be sired by Im Kiddin, Kids
Classic Style, CK Kid, The Power Te, and Kid Clu. They will
begin arriving in January and we will have our live foal cam up
and running so that you can watch the births.
The first of the year is fast approaching and
soon Exceptionist will be "home" from Australia. It
will be an exciting time and we want you to be a part of it.
Look forward to joining us via pictures and live cameras to see
his homecoming. The plans are that he will fly into Los Angeles
on December 28 and after three days of quarantine, will come
home to Wisconsin.
Sandy
News on November
16, 2004
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Molly and Mike doing their chores on a
beautiful fall day. Soon we will have to put
the golf cart away as there will be snow on the ground.
Oh well, spring is only 5 months away.
Sandy
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News on November 23, 2004
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I just
returned from Oklahoma City and the AQHA World Show. It
was my "big event" of the year. It was great
to see the wonderful horses and also see some of my
friends that I only see at the World. As usual, the food
was outstanding and I think that I gained a few
pounds—it was the desserts that did it.
Both of the Exceptionist fillies
looked great. Monte Horn did an outstanding job of
fitting them. Unfortunately Donna’s filly became very
sick when she got there and they were not able to show
her in the Open Class. She is an incredible filly----has
the longest neck and the prettiest topline and hip you
could ever put on a horse. Keith’s filly, Exceptional
Me, placed 4th in the Amateur and she has so
much class and pretty to her, along with a tremendous
amount of muscle. Both fillies got a lot of attention
and it was amazing how many people expressed an interest
in breeding to "Frank" Needless to say, we
were overwhelmed and excited.
My trip home was a long one, with my
plane being canceled and me having to sit in the airport
for hours. At least I was home in time to see the
Packers beat the Vikings. I took a few pictures of
Exceptional Me at the World and would like to share them
with you. Since I didn’t get a chance to take any
pictures of Make No Exceptions, I am going to show you
some snapshots of her that were taken by Donna about 6
weeks ago. Believe me when I tell you that these
pictures do not do her justice. Hopefully we will get
some better ones soon. That is all for now.
Sandy
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Exceptional
Me
2004 Filly
Pictures taken at the 2004
A.Q.H.A. World Show
Make No Exceptions
2004 Filly
Pictures taken Sept. 12th 2004
News on November
25, 2004
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Today
is Thanksgiving and there is so much to be thankful for.
It seems that we take so much for granted in this World
and sometimes we just need to slow down and reflect on
all of the good things that have happened to us. I
am thankful for all the wonderful people that I have met
over the years in the horse business, and for
my wonderful husband Mike who has been so
supportive of my "wild horse ventures".
I took some pictures of An Exceptional Affair while
waiting for the time when we could go to eat our
Thanksgiving meal (as you know with horses,
you have to work around feeding schedules)
This filly is really maturing nicely. She is so
correct in her legs and her body just seems to be
getting bigger and bigger. She will be a big mare
when she is mature. She has winter hair now, but I
think you will still appreciate her quality.
I am extemely appreciative of the wonderful letters that
the Exceptionist foal owners have been writing to me.
I am even getting to know the meaning of some of
the Australian words. I am
sure you will enjoy their letters on the "Happy
Foal Owners" page.
Sandy
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News on November 28, 2004
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It is
really cold and windy here today------------the horses
were full of life as they had to stay in the barn
yesterday because of the rain and sleet. I tried
to take some pictures but it was pretty cold on my
hands. I guess in another month, I will look
back on our 30 degree weather as a "warm
spell".
Buffy left for her new home today. Her new
owner, Jim Sancken from Illinois, and his trainer,
Ryon McKillips came and picked her up. She
loaded beautifully and it was sad to see her leave.
She is going from a life of leisure since I turned her
outside all day and put her in the barn at night, to a
life of being fit to be a halter horse. They
really were pleased with the way she has developed, as
I am also. I will show you a picture of her,
even though she has winter "fur".
I started putting the two fillies that are still
here out together. It is really fun to
watch them play. It is the first time that they
have been together as I normally put the mares and
foals out separately. Janie belongs
to Chris Black of Australia and we still own
Champaign. I will try to keep you up-to-date on
both of them.
Sandy
Champaign and Janie pictured at
left, and Buffy pictured to the right.
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Letter Received Nov. 30th,
2004
I want to share a wonderful
letter that I received from a potential customer.
Sandy,
Thank you so much for responding to my e-mail, it is much
appreciated.
Bonita's (Okay to Touch Gold) dam was Skipper W on the bottom
side and her
sire was Mister Treasury.
I think it is great that Frank is going to Mr. Knost's
ranch. I had saved up all my money and bought a breeding to
Touchdown in 2003. Bonita foaled out too late so I kept her
open to breed her early to Touchdown in 2004. I called on
2/3/04 to have the shipment sent and found out he had died the
weekend before. I was crushed. I
tried 2 years prior to breed to him with my Superior Halter
mare I'm So Lovely but he was booked full. . So unable to
breed to Touchdown and having a mare in heat and ready to be
bred I called Halvorsen Ranch and bred Bonita to Perpetualism.
Chip and his breeding manager Connie were wonderful and
refunded my breeding fee so I could breed to Perpetualism.
They really wanted me to breed to CK Kid but I only want to
breed to NN studs.
Bonita is due the first week of January and I am hoping for
another palomino filly. I am trying to build my broodmares
from Bonita as she has the pedigree and conformation that
should produce outstanding individuals. Also I cannot afford
to buy what I can produce as far as quality. I believe as you
do that you have to have great mama's to produce World Class
Quarter horses.
What I am trying to do is sell my filly to my daughter so I
can buy a breeding to Frank and still keep my filly in the
family. My 50th birthday is coming this month and I
decided that if I don't go for my dreams now, tomorrow
will be too late. When I first saw a photo of
Touchdown I knew he was destined for greatness. He gave me
goose bumps. That's why I tried so hard to breed to him. I
want you to know when I went to your web site and saw Frank ,
he gave me goose bumps too! In my opinion he is the best son
of Touchdown that I have seen. He looks so much like him
except Frank is better. Chip's stud is really nice too but NN
is the future.
Enough of my musings, it's back to work for me. Sandy I
want you to know that
I really, really want to cross Bonita with Frank. Hopefully I
will find a way.
Regards,
Tonee L. McAfee
Eugene, Oregon
(Update)
I am happy to report that we were able to work
things out and Bonita will be bred to Exceptionist in 2005
Sandy
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News on
December 1, 2004
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It
has been a busy 2 days at Ellis Quarter Horses.
The farrier has been here and it means holding
horses for him to trim. Scott Bruecker is
as good a farrier as you can find, but the long
hours until they are all finished wear on you
after a while. At least it will be another
5 weeks until we are sceduled again.
Pictured here is Scott trimming one of the
recipients, Molly---------Molly is carrying the
foal by Im Kiddin and out of Rebecca (You Bet Im
Cool) She is due on February 10,
2005.
Sandy
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News on
December 6, 2004
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Today is the first
day that we have had snow-------------I knew it was
inevitable living here in Wisconsin, and we all look
forward to it for Christmas, but it really didn't have
to come just yet. I snapped a few pictures
of the mares in the snow and also of the two
fillies-----------they didn't have any idea of what that
white stuff was and kept trying to eat it.
Sandy
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News on
December 8, 2004
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Yesterday
was a miserable day, weather wise, so I
had time to go back through some of my old pictures
and reflect on a few things. I found this
picture of Cool Ms Tardee and felt sad that she is
gone and that she only had one foal, Exceptionist.
I don't think I have seen a mare with more actual
muscle than she had. The carry-down of her
hip was incredible and the total width of the
mare and the deep muscle cuts were unbelievable. It
was always fun to hear the comments about her when
someone would come and see her for the first time.
I remembered when Bob, our long time helper
came and told me that one of the mares was down in
the outside shelter. As I ran out there, I kept
saying to myself, "please don't let it be Sara
Lee (her barn name)", somehow knowing it would
be. We had 4 vets here trying to save her in
the below zero weather but her intestines had
twisted and I finally came to the realization that
the humane thing to do was to put her down. At
the time she was in foal to Im Kiddin.
I also came across these pictures of
Exceptionist (Frank) as a foal and thought about how
his life would have changed if he had not been
injured in the accident. It is
unfortunate that the leg injury prevented him from a
show career. At least, he
will have a chance in the stud pen and by the
indication of the quality of his foals, he will
leave his mark there.
Guess I had better go to work------- today we have
warm weather (33 degrees) and our snow has melted.
We will be able to put the horses out today.
Mike is fussy about the paddocks--doesn't want the
grass dug up, so I have to find some pens to
put them in where there is no grass to destroy
and not too much mud---------------that will
be a challenge.
Sandy
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Exceptionist "weanling
front shot".
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Exceptionist "weanling
picture playing".
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Cool Ms Tardee "Sara"
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News on
December 13, 2004
| December 13, 2004
What a
wonderful weekend it was in Mississippi!!! Donna took
her filly to the Mississippi Futurity which had been
postponed from September due to Hurricane Ivan. I had
planned to go so that I could take pictures but
something came up and I did not make it. From what I was
told, the filly looked marvelous----------Donna showed
her herself in Regional Mare Owners, Amateur, the
Stallion Service Open Futurity, and the open AQHA class.
Judged10 times, Make No Exceptions was first under 9
judges, and second under the 10th. That is
quite a feat for any filly. She won 3 Futurities plus
the AQHA Open class. . Donna now has the filly
"back home in Alabama". Hopefully she will get
us some pictures soon.
Sandy
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News on
December 15, 2004
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December 15, 2004
Today
was a busy day at Ellis Quarter Horses. Dr
Travis Henry, my vet of many years and also a
long time friend, came to see me and float
some horses’ teeth using his new
Flexi-Float. He has been traveling all over
the World giving demonstrations on using it.
It amazed me the modern technology that has
come to equine dentistry. This power tool
replaces the old method and is much more
efficient and much easier to use. Dr Kathy Fox
and Stacey, her number one technician from my
vet clinic met him here and they proceeded to
do some teeth for me. I have been guilty of
neglecting my horses teeth and poor old Miss
Bunny Tardee will really appreciate her
"new mouth".
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-Back-
Michael
  
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